Marion Beijerland: China has broken its promise to Hong Kong

These days, a lot of critical articles are being written in leadership positions about the Swedish government and the crisis it ended.

Stephen Lofwen is certainly dissatisfied with what has been published.

But Swedish head teachers can sit quietly at their desks.

There is a bad difference Amidst the world they live in compared to writers in Hong Kong, the Apple Daily announced that the Wednesday newspaper will be printed last Wednesday.

With locked bank accounts and top officials imprisoned, that is no longer possible. Employees cannot be paid and vendors cannot be paid.

The newspaper’s results, which began 26 years ago, were already in sight when more than 500 police officers stormed its headquarters last week. Police officers sat on the journalists’ computers, went through them and confiscated 40 of them.

At the same time, five top officials of the newspaper were abducted. Two of them, the editor-in-chief and the CEO are still in custody. Others have been released on bail.

Is it their fault? Has published 30 articles Criticized the political regime in Hong Kong and Beijing. According to the police, the articles showing that they are affiliated with foreign powers are a crime under the controversial National Security Act, which was introduced this summer.

This development is one of several points where China has abandoned its promise to retain much of Hong Kong’s independence for 50 years after it surrendered to the United Kingdom in 1997.

From the struggles of 2019 The thumbs are considerably tighter. With the help of Govt-19 and the National Security Act, China has confirmed that protests are a thing of the past and that voices of criticism are being silenced.

Consultant Mark Simon tells the BBC how police interrupted Wednesday’s board meeting of Apple Daily’s owners and arrested one of the newspaper’s journalists while talking about its power demonstration.

Consultant Mark Simon tells the BBC about how the police intercepted Wednesday’s board meeting of Apple Daily’s owners and arrested one of the newspaper’s journalists during its power demonstration.

“They wanted to make sure we were closing soon,” he told the BBC.

Apple Daily Goal For a long time to the authorities. The newspaper explored power and made clear its support for the democratic movement. When protests are planned in Hong Kong, the newspaper urges people to participate.

The pressure on the newspaper had already begun when police first raided its office and went there in a clear demonstration of power, when owner and founder Jimmy Loy was taken in handcuffs from the editorial office. Jimmy Loy is currently in jail for participating in an illegal protest, but is awaiting trial for violating security laws.

For those who left mainland China in the 1960s and later became a staunch critic of the Communist Party, progress has taken a different direction than he expected.

“As long as readers choose us to support our magazine and agree with our focus, no matter how great the pressure, we can stand strong,” the chairman said when Apple Daily released its first issue.

Year 1995, joined Hong Kong Yet there were some who believed that Britain and China would be inspired by Hong Kong and move in a more democratic direction. During the relocation there was the promise of freedoms that Hong Kong would retain: freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and independent courts.

Now all the critics are under pressure. An investigation by the Hong Kong Journalists’ Association has revealed that journalists are already self-censoring for fear of being accused of violating security laws. Many young activists have fled abroad for fear of the same team.

Read more: Marion Bizergland: A dark day for Hong Kong’s press forces